[Health examinations in connection with night work]

Abstract

Some 10% of the labour force work during night hours. According to an EU directive night workers should be offered preventive health examinations. It is well known that night work is related to sleep disorders but the epidemiologic evidence linking night work with increased occurrence of peptic ulcers, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and spontaneous abortions is still limited and provides no strong rationale for preventive health examinations. This article argues that individual health examinations should be integrated into primary preventive activities at the workplace.